McLeod, Jakmides tag team expungement process

Karen McLeod and Jeffrey Jakmides believe in second chances, so much so that they have renewed their ability to help people seal their records.

Earlier this year, McLeod, who was the former coordinator for the Greater Stark County Urban League's expungement efforts, started the Second Chance Community Hope Project.

Jakmides, a city-based defense attorney who signed on during fall 2012 to help McLeod with her efforts, again is on board to provide legal advice.

Back in August 2012, Jakmides initially came on the scene to soothe concerns by the Stark County Bar Association to assure that potential expungement clients involved with the Urban League effort were getting the proper legal advice. Jakmides is consulting pro-bono with Second Chance's clients, much like he did when McLeod was working on behalf of the Urban League, to assure their eligibility.

"At one point, 90 percent of the submissions (from the Urban League) reportedly hadn't been done right and weren't eligible. One of (our Stark County) judges contacted the county bar, expressing concerns that (the actions were) close to practicing law without a license and causing a lot of extra staff time. (McLeod) called me and I volunteered. We went from a 40 percent to a 95 percent approval," Jakmides explained.

Both McLeod and Jakmides believe it is crucial that potential qualifying clients are aware of the opportunity to cleanse their records, especially due to the 2012 changes with the sealing of criminal records and the potential impact that they may make on employment opportunities.

Due to the changes, some crimes that were previously ineligible for expungement now qualify.

For example, criminal convictions related to failure to pay child support, which didn't qualify before the change, are now eligible.

Jakmides explained that now someone can expunge more than one charge if one is a felony and one a misdemeanor. Although, for example, if someone has two petty theft convictions, those cannot be sealed because they are the same level of crime.

"(McLeod) is a do-gooder, and we need about a thousand more of her, so I'm happy to help," the attorney added.

The founder of Second Chance Community Hope Project appreciates the support from people like Jakmides. She is working on acquiring nonprofit status for her effort and doing some fundraisers to help offset the user fees associated with the process.

McLeod also has some leads on possible locations where she can establish her office operations.

Although she acknowledges that she has been unemployed since parting ways with the Greater Stark County Urban League, McLeod believes that she believes it is more important to help people find that second chance to become a productive member of society by expunging their record.

Potentially then they could find employment by legal means to support their family rather than falling back into old bad habits, she said. "The economy is still bad, and people don't have the money. This is very important to me because I need to make a difference."